Uh...I guess this is an equipment question?

I've charted up various patterns for knitting in MS Excel or Google Sheets, using specialty symbols for cabling and filled cells for colorwork charts. It works well enough but for large/complex patterns, both struggle in various ways. Google Sheets can't zoom out far enough to see the whole pattern at once and MS Excel has a bunch of oddball behavior buried into its routines that if I use some method over and over, it'll accrue hidden errors over time and then will just abruptly crash and finding and eliminating those errors is a pain.

So I was wondering what software other pattern designers are using for knit/crochet charting very complex patterns? I did a search in r/knitting and the only thread I found was 12 years old...hopefully there are some newer/better software options that have arrived on the scene over the past 12 years.

I'm attaching a photo of the pattern I'm working on currently just to give a sense of the scale I'm working at.

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I was knitting my way along this morning and was just soooooo astounded by what a quick knit this is. I looked at it on my needles and thought that *obviously* I'll be wearing this very soon. Well! 😂🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

FYI, my last few wearables were bottom-up and this is my first time knitting top-down.

Pattern is Tolosa by Audrey Borrego Tolosa by Audrey Borrego

1.5 years in the making because I missed last year’s Halloween deadline and then lost all motivation until the spooky season came back around!

This was me a couple of weeks ago, and now they are done! I set myself the little extra challenge of making the same mistakes on the second that I made on the first, which mostly involved places where I miscounted my rows and had an extra row of knits or purls in the garter section. But because of that, I finally took the time to learn how to read my knitting! Wins all around!

Pattern: rye socks by tin can knits
Yarn: dream in color (smooshy) one-of-a-kind

Just wanted to share my first ever FO! PetiteKnit’s “Sophie Scarf” on 4mm needles with Cascade Superwash 220 in “hyacinth.” It’s far from perfect but I learned a LOT and I’m really happy with my tension. It was good for me to push through the perfectionist urge to frog and just make something. Plus it’s SO cozy!

I took my Tie Top from nakedknit on vacation this month and it deserves a special shout out. The fully open back makes it the only hand knitted item I own that I can wear even at the height of a muggy NYC summer or on a tropical island. The pattern is written for a sport weight cashmere. But since it is worked according to your own measurements it was easy to regrade for an unbranded silk cashmere lace weight yarn I had in my stash. The fabric is perfect - drapey, lightweight and breathable. I omitted the eyelet details that the pattern calls for, for a sleek 90s look. Definitely need to knit another one before next summer!

Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-tie-top

Yarn: unbranded silk and cashmere lace weight yarn

I've just finished my first steeked project in time for the arrival of a new niece/nephew.

This is the strawberry garden baby blanket by Josh Henzler, completed in a mix of drops lima and karisma and some yarn local to me, Susan's family.

Project page: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/omeisl/strawberry-garden-baby-blanket

The pattern is ok. I found a few areas a little unclear, but the chart is lovely. Crochet edging is completed wrong side facing and that along with blocking made such a difference with the curling edges. The only part I'm quite disappointed about is the steek stitches where I caught the white yarn are a little obvious on the border.

I chose to duplicate stitch the strawberries, inspired by some other projects. I had originally thought to complete them with colourwork but I thought this project would be a good push to improve my duplicate stitch skills and was worried about tension issues with three stranded colourwork (another area of mine that needs some work!)

To do the steek I used the crocheted method with some light felting at the ends. I then roughly sewed the steek edge down, and a very good friend sewed a green velvet ribbon to hide the edge.

The blank section in the middle of the blanket is just waiting for new family member to be named! And I will then duplicate stitch an initial. I'm torn between red or green, so would love other thoughts please!

I went through some old boxes when I found this ancient gem from years ago.

The first and only sock I ever knit, never made a second one. And swore that I’ll never knit socks ever again. But back then I also absolutely hated knitting lol.

I made this Fortuna's wheel jumper when I first found out I was pregnant, and today my toddler got his own 🥰

I used the sverrigsgade pattern and transposed the charts myself, wasn't too tricky!

HIGHLY recommend using leftover yarn (or intentionally over-ordering) to make matching jumpers for your wee one ⭐

Double-knit using merino wool AKA the softest thing ever! 🩵 Really love the colors on this one. The design is an homage to Eadweard Muybridge’s experiments in capturing the movement of animals, specifically ‘The Horse in Motion’, which laid the groundwork of what would later become motion pictures.

Materials used:
- Yarn: Lang Merino +
- Needles: 5 mm

This sweater I finished last year and it is my favourite. It’s Arctic light Sweater by Veronika Lindberg made with acrylic. It was my mistake I washed it together with other clothes and I didn’t check the temperature. I think it was 60 or something like that because it doesn’t mame sense why it grew. Now it’s larger, and I don’t mind that but the neck ribbing is floppy and all over the place. It doesn’t hold shape. This is knitted top down so I am not sure I can re-knit the neck. Do you have any suggestions? I wanted to make the same sweater in purple next, but It takes me another month or so, plus I feel bad about all the yarn and time spent on this sweater. Do you have any suggestions?

Strangely enough, this is my first-ever sweater, even though I’ve been knitting since I was 12! I’ve been obsessed with putting custom colorwork charts on hats for the past 6 or so years and finally decided to try the same thing on a sweater. The yarn is Cascade Yarn’s 128 Superwash Merino Wool (color 518), and the pattern is petiteknit’s Louisiana sweater—which is knitted in the round, so I had to improvise to put a design on the chest. I ended up using long pieces of yarn and knitting fair isle just across the width of the motif. There were a lot of ends to weave in this way, but I don’t think you can see the extra weight after blocking! I’m really happy with how it came out, and it was a quick knit—only three weeks from start to end, thanks to the jumbo yarn weight used. Stay tuned to see if I’ve been bitten by the sweater bug now! :)

I am a live-in caregiver for my 95 year old grandfather. I often knit while I am sitting with him, and he has started asking me to knit specific things. This is my favorite, which I just finished today. He wanted me to knit it for my dad. My dad is thrilled.

Pattern was A Comical Hat by Cheryl Molnar. My grandpa liked the starting 2x2 rib so much he wanted me to just stick with that instead of the offset rib design.

The Block O is craft felt cut to shape and wrapped in scrap yarn, then sewn on while the hat was stretched out. He specifically wanted a handmade patch sewn on and I had no idea what I was doing so I got creative.

Yarn is AlohaBlu Hawaii in the colorway Red Gray White. This yarn is what started it all, he wanted me to stop my other projects to start with this yarn right away.

Edit: photos are of my dad!

Junko Okamoto’s HANA in Cascade 220

I had purchased this yarn last year to knit my boyfriend a sweater and tried a couple times to make him one but knew deep down the relationship wasn’t right and couldn’t bear to actually ever finish it. We broke up early September and i immediately cast this sweater on, it’s like a big warm hug and very imperfect, as you can see I ran out of the gray yarn on the last sleeve and the stitching is messy but I love it!

I lost my beloved grandma this week. She taught me how to knit and bake, and how to love and show up for people (usually with knitted gifts and baked goods in hand). I will miss her very, very much.

These past few years, her Alzheimer’s was too advanced for her to knit. She completed about ⅔ of this blanket, which I finished just in time to keep her warm as she passed. It’s certainly not perfect - our gauges are very different, and I had to take some creative liberties to get the edges to align - but I know she’d love it anyway.

I am a crocheter and embroiderer who decided to pick up knitting. I thought to start small to get my hands used to the motions. This is the first knitted object I have ever produced. Lots of mistakes have been made. I learnt I was creating twisted stitches for half of the scarf and messed a lot of things up but thought to cherish the final product nonetheless so that when I am at a more advanced level I can see how far I have come. I have done the same for my crochet and embroidery projects and it is lovely to see the progress made.

I've been knitting for about a year now, but the only things I've made so far are a few scarves and 3/4 of a temperature blanket (all in knit stitch). I feel ready to tackle some wearables, but I don't yet feel very comfortable with anything other than a knit stitch, so I figured I'd do some swatches.

I didn't want to only attempt a new type of stitch when I needed it for a pattern, because I'm kind of a perfectionist and I want to feel like I know what I'm doing and what I'd be getting myself into when looking for new patterns to make. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, and now I'm ready to start a hat!

All swatches done with Lion Basic Stitch Anti-Piling yarn on size 8 needles (Waffle was done on size 7).

In case my tags aren't legible, from left to right, top to bottom:

• Knit
• Double Moss
• 1x1 Rib
• Stockinette
• Waffle
• 2x2 Rib
• Seed
• Brioche
• Fisherman's
• Moss
• Broken Rib
• C4B Cable

For the hat I'm using Lion Wool Ease Acrylic Blend with the Melt the Ice pattern (which I bought last winter and only now feel ready to attempt). My first scarves weren't completed until spring, so I'm looking forward to actually completing an item in time for its intended weather!

Knitting has been a really amazing addition to my life, and has been a hobby my ADHD ass has finally been able to stick to! Shout out to all the wonderful fiber artists in this community; y'all inspire me to keep going! 💜

Any suggestions on what to knit with around fifty 10g yarn balls? they are sport weight and each has 26m of yarn.... I bought it as a lot online but I didn't realise they were tiny little balls! There's around 1,300 meters so I could make a big something or a bunch of little somethings, but I have no idea what is a good thing to make with all these... None of them are the same color 🤣

Hi! Im making a Lillehammer sweater https://ravel.me/184---lillehammer-1994
That’s my first time doing something with steeking and I’m a bit confused about the neckline, since sweater doesn’t divide on back/front parts. In the pattern it says to cast off for the neckline in front. I did it. Am I supposed to finish this row, cut the yarn and start again at the beginning of the collar? English is not my first language, hope I explained clearly enough what I mean 😅

I just finished the heart chain sweater by From Mayo (knitting for Olive heavy merino in cream) and am absolutely thrilled with how it turned out!!! I’ve been knitting for about 4 years and started making sweaters in March of this year. This is also my first cable knit sweater. I am so glad I finished this in time for sweater weather, and I plan to wear this for a trip to Europe this winter!

HOWEVER…I realized the knit on my shoulders looks a little…stretched? I am sure this is a tension-related issue. I have very loose tension, and to even come close to hitting gauge I have to size down my needles by 1mm and go a whole size down.

So, I am wondering if anyone has specific tips, or whether this sort of thing will just get better with experience! Any advice would be greatly appreciated 🥹

I was a bit ambitious after finishing my first knitted project, I decided to take on the Dot Top by p1zip (https://ravel.me/dottop) and I'm so glad I did! Definitely not without mistakes, but it's such a fun and rewarding project. The I-cord edge around the neck and armholes really took it to the next level, although I decided not to do it on the bottom edge since the fabric feels comfortable as is

Yarn used was Queen City Yarn Coleman in the shade Soot and Casasol Bambú in the shade Mostaza

My Petite Knit Cloud sweater using Lang Cloud Tweed color way 4, knit for my partner. Surprise! It blocked out a lot! It’s already an oversized pattern and I knit a large, realistically I probably could have knit a medium. What’s done is done. It’s gone for two 8 minute low heat tumbles in the dryer in a garment bag, which did help a little. I don’t want to re knit the whole thing, but love this yarn and want this sweater to be worn to death. Right now I am thinking the neckline is where I’m most unhappy. I’m thinking of redoing it, picking up fewer stitches on the sides to encourage the shoulders to come up some, and doing an entirely different neckline. I’m not sure what though. What would you do for the neckline? Thinking another tumble or two after that and then making peace with it being cozy.